Cataloging happiness

Lesson 29: Learning to say yes

I know what you’re thinking… Nahla, you just told me to start saying no, now you’re telling me to say yes? Sounds like mixed signals, I agree, but it’s all about balance.

I wish my brain was this organised

I still stand by what I said, learning to say no is an indispensable tool that we should all have lying in our kick ass arsenal of skills. You need to have a backbone to say no. You need to prioritise your time. You need to make the decisions.

With that being said, learning to yes is an equally essential tool for succeeding in anything. By saying yes to opportunities you would usually decline, or saying yes to finally letting your hair down; you can open doors you never knew even existed.

Here are just a few things I’ve experienced from saying yes:

YOU FIND OUT WHAT YOU LIKE AND WHAT YOU DON’T LIKE

I found out early this year that despite my fear of heights, I have a knack/love for rock climbing. On a cold afternoon at work, one of my colleagues had a free ticket to go rock climbing and suggested that I come with her. I protested and protested. Rock climbing? Me? You mad woman?!

She knew I was free and didn’t have a valid excuse for not going, plus my gym was closed for the day. So, here I am standing in front of coloured rock blobs on a wall and all I can focus on is the way my stomach is churning.

After watching a few novices like myself, have a go and laugh when they dropped, I went for it and loved every minute. You can now call me spidey. I renounce any other names I might have, legal and all.

YOU OPEN UP TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES

Promotions. It’s what we aim for and it’s not always in work. Like being promoted from child to teen to adult. Or muggle to full fledged Hogwarts graduate. Most of us aim for growth and it can be difficult to grow when we say no to things that might be good for us. This doesn’t mean saying yes to every opportunity but it means saying yes to those that you’re intrigued about.

Don’t be a wimp by saying no to the opportunities that you think you’re not qualified enough for or, the ones you think you don’t deserve. Doubt can be a sucker punch in the success gullet so just go for it and if it doesn’t go to plan, it’s really not the end of the world.

YOU CAN BREAK AWAY FROM ROUTINE

I am a self professed old soul, who loves the comfort of home, warm socks and I relish in a bed time routine. No judgements please.

I need routine or I just end up spinning in circles like a mad woman. That being said, sometimes you need to break away from routine and say yes to things you wouldn’t normally say yes to. I don’t usually like going out but on the rare occasions I say yes, to a specific list of friends, I have hilarious memorable nights that, stick with us for years.

The other week I agreed to going to the museum after work and ended up at an ice rink. Sometimes your mind needs you to say yes, just so you can have a little break. Start small and work your way up.

Is there something you wish to say yes to? Let me know in the comments below 😃